Hamas War In Israel and Gaza

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Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, thousands* reportedly killed since then.
Hamas is reportedly using civilian infrastructure such as children's schools, to discourage Israel counter-fire.
"There is a lot of latent anger on the Arab street in countries like Jordan and Egypt. ... This is very dangerous for Arab regimes around the region for some of our closest allies. And they know it's not just about potential for a wider war. It's potential for internal conflict that could unseat some of America's closest allies." ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Ian Pannell from Tel Aviv 23/10/22
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"Now, this additional deployment sends another message to those who would -- who would seek to widen this conflict. As President Biden said earlier and as you've heard me say, if any group or any country is looking to widen this conflict and take advantage of this very unfortunate situation that we see, our advice is don't." Secretary Austin
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The U.S. is already involved

KARL: ... we saw the USS Carney take down those Houthi missiles. Houthis, again, that's an Iranian-backed group in Yemen and also several drones.
Were -- was that takedown defending our ships in the region or was it defending Israel?

AUSTIN: Jonathan, when you have cruise missiles heading towards one of our DDGs, one of our destroyers, that vessel is going to do what it needs to do to protect itself. The same applies for the UAVs.
And I applaud the work of the crew of the Carney. They demonstrated what the -- what our very capable United States Navy can do and will do if challenged.

KARL: And you've given the authority to do that. That was done in an instant.

AUSTIN: They have the inherent right for self-protection there, Jon. Yeah.

* More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, ... At least 3,400 people have been killed in Gaza according to the Palestinian Health Authority.

source: https://abcnews.go.com/International/timeline-surprise-rocket-attack-hamas-israel/story?id=103816006
 
A petition is circulating, inviting celebrities to demand a halt to the bombing in Gaza.
Israel's critics have called Israel's military operation in Gaza mass vengeance killing of the innocent.
Netanyahu is determined to continue, though the video of limbless children tells the story.

Will the celebrity petition plan work in time?
Why not? What instead?
 
Rampage said:
"Will the celebrity petition plan work in time?
Why not?" #2
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I'm not sure about how much such major policy issues will change after Netanyahu is replaced.
It seems a bad combination:
- Netanyahu is an extremist, if not absolutist.
- Israel's enemies question / deny Israel's right to exist.
That's a nearly ideal formula for war, bloodshed, destruction.

Is that what you had in mind w/ "why not"?
 

[U.S. senior senator from N.Y.] Schumer Urges New Leadership in Israel, Calling Netanyahu an Obstacle to Peace​

The top Senate Democrat, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States, spoke from the Senate floor to condemn Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and call for elections to replace him. 8
Senator Chuck Schumer’s speech was the latest reflection of the growing dissatisfaction among Democrats, particularly progressives, with Israel’s conduct of the war and its toll on Palestinian civilians.
By Annie Karni / Reporting from Washington / March 14, 2024

Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, on Thursday delivered a pointed speech on the Senate floor excoriating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East and calling for new leadership in Israel, five months into the war.
Many Democratic lawmakers have condemned Mr. Netanyahu’s leadership and his right-wing governing coalition, and President Biden has even criticized the Israeli military’s offensive in Gaza as “over the top.” But Mr. Schumer’s speech amounted to the sharpest critique yet from a senior American elected official — effectively urging Israelis to replace Mr. Netanyahu.
“I believe in his heart, his highest priority is the security of Israel,” said Mr. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States. “However, I also believe Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/14/us/politics/schumer-netanyahu-israel-elections.html
"The center of gravity is the civilian population. And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat." United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin commenting the first week of December, 2023 From Simi Valley, CA on Israel's War on Hamas
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Pelosi joins US Democrats call for Biden to halt arms transfer to Israel​

Former House speaker among lawmakers putting pressure on White House in letter citing Gaza humanitarian crisis.
Published On 6 Apr 20246 Apr 2024

Trump says Israel ‘losing PR war’ in Gaza, should finish war ‘fast’​

Former US President criticises Israel for releasing ‘most heinous’ videos of air strikes in Gaza.
Published On 5 Apr 20245 Apr 2024

www.aljazeera.com

US & Canada News | Today's latest from Al Jazeera

Stay on top of US & Canada latest developments on the ground with Al Jazeera’s fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated maps.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com

The Muslim vote may be a key to Biden winning the potentially decisive swing State of Michigan. Has Biden already bargained on the Jewish vote?
 
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www.theguardian.com

Hundreds of Palestine supporters protest Israeli real estate event at New Jersey synagogue

Real estate company, called My Home in Israel, boasts luxury apartments for sale across Israel and the occupied West Bank
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
"Israel’s settlements in the West Bank are widely considered illegal under international law."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/11/new-jersey-israel-palestine-protest-real-estate
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And now N.J. Synagogues are elbowing ethics aside to join in ?!
"Oh woe is everything!" grace06
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Part of the legal requirement of religious exemption from taxation is the church / synagogue not be used for political purpose.

During the period of remarkable civil rights progress (MLK etc) there were infractions, albeit serving a noble purpose.

Perhaps the perception within this synagogue is a noble purpose is also served.
Drinking that kool-aid requires dehumanizing the former inhabitants.

Hitler's "untermenchen" (sub-human) were first dehumanized, and then exterminated. And Israel's rallying cry: "Never Again!" BUT !
Except in Gaza?
First dehumanize them. Then plunder their land ...
 
In a campuswide letter, USC Provost Andrew T. Guzman cited unnamed threats that have poured in shortly after the university publicized the valedictorian’s name and biography this month. Guzman said attacks against the student for her pro-Palestinian views have reached an “alarming tenor” and “escalated to the point of creating substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement” in May.

www.latimes.com

Citing safety concerns, USC cancels pro-Palestinian valedictorian's graduation speech

USC cites safety reasons in canceling the upcoming graduation speech of pro-Palestinian valedictorian from speaking onstage at her ceremony.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com

Public safety is a legitimate concern.
So is the First Amendment.

Banning the valedictorian's address cedes success to the bad guys. Rewarding bad guys by & large a bad idea, for it encourages escalation, more of the same.

- wide angle -
The anecdote is about China's Chairman Mao Tse-tung's reply to the question -what do you think of Western civilization-?
According to the anecdote, Mao's reply: -It's worth a try.-

To the chairman's insight I add: Now's the time !

<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
If we may peek outside the box:
Author Salman Rushdie is on a book tour, following a fatwa assassination attempt that left Rushdie blind in one eye.
How much security would have been required to safeguard Rushdie, protecting him from the attack that has maimed him?

U.S. presidents address large crowds, here to fore safely. Andrew Jackson is listed as the first U.S. president to be so threatened.
If USC's decision makers decided this on basis of security $cost, any thought given to a student sponsored bake sale to pay for sufficient security?

- OR -

Charge admission. Not to make windfall profit, but enough to cover much or most of the cost of securing the event.

Not sure, but seems to me there's something hasty about this.

Harvard President Larry Summers (served as Tres. Sec. @ Clinton 2nd Term)raised deliberately provocative but un-PC questions about biological( intellectual) differences between men & women. A minor fluff-up resulted. Summers has apologized 3 times so far. ABC-TV's George Will responds:
"Summers simply forgot where he was. He thought he was at a place where there was free intellectual inquiry. He wasn't. He was at Harvard. He was on an American campus, where certain ideas simply can't be thought. The idea that there might be innate, which is to say genetically based cognitive differences between the sexes is not a radical thought. There's a huge body of science investigating it. By mentioning it, he induced in that poor woman [MIT Professor Nancy Hopkins] something like a clinical description of Freudian hysteria.She was going to fall down on the carpet and swoon with vapors and muss up her crinolines. This is what feminism has produced? This frail flower who can't stand to be in the presence of an idea like that."
"This major grovel's ridiculous. All he's done is dramatize that Harvard like most American campuses believes in diversity in everything but thought." Will
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On the subject of Mr Summers (#11), I remember my undergraduate psychology texts making a big point of telling us that there was no difference between male and female brains (since proven false) because, at the time, they were busy fighting against the outdated idea that men were inherently smarter than women so women shouldn't try to compete in a man's world.
 
Shiftless2 said:
"... no difference between male and female brains (since proven false)" S2 #12
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Hypocrite sear?
I find what I call "conclusion first" "reasoning" among religionists.
Simply, they'll justify a supernatural conclusion by presuming it true, and then engineering / concocting a back-story connecting accepted fact to the conclusion in question.

Regarding gender dimorphism:
the stumbling block found here & elsewhere is conflation between scientific equality, and legal / civil rights parity.
For most of U.S. history women were denied the vote.

We might shrug off the male minority's subordinating the female majority regarding suffrage as an anachronistic freak
until we consider the Dobbs decision in context of Roe.

Responding to the idea humans are the only species that blush, Mark Twain observed, we're the only species with need to.
 

"Iran left Israel with no choice on what it will do next" FOX
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- piffle -​

Iran left Israel with no choice on what it will do next​

Israel and the US have had to endure attacks by Iran for decades. The Iranian regime can't be trusted to be rational​

Amir Fakhravar
By Amir Fakhravar Fox News / Published April 19, 2024 8:00am EDT

Iran prepares for potential Israeli response to missile barage​

On the evening of April 17, following his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron confirmed in an interview with the BBC that "It is clear that the Israelis are making a decision to act." After four days of tense deliberations within the Israeli cabinet since the April 13 direct attack by the Islamic regime of Iran against Israel, which involved more than 300 objects, containing 30 cruise missiles, 120 ballistic missiles and 170 drones, it is evident that Israel has reached the decision to target the bases of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps inside Iran. The question is no longer whether Israel will launch an attack on Iran, but rather when and to what extent the retaliatory strike by Israel might occur.
The United States and Israel, with the support from allies and friendly nations such as Britain, France, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, could successfully intercept IRGC’s missiles. Then, immediately Biden asked his "fellow G7 leaders to coordinate a united diplomatic response." The objective was to urge Israel to avoid further escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
However, these efforts were perceived as weak from Israel's standpoint. Israel has valid reasons to be concerned about the next phase of Iran's actions against the Jewish state. The aggressive behavior of the mullahs’ regime over the past 45 years, starting from the storming of the American Embassy in Tehran and the hostage crisis in 1979, to the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992, the October 7 attack six months ago, the recent massive missile and drone attack, and numerous other assaults against the United States and Israel, all underscore the fact that this regime cannot be trusted to behave rationally and respectfully within the international community.
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NETANYAHU SAYS 9 CHILLING WORDS AS IRAN'S PRESIDENT VOWS TO COMPLETELY DESTROY ISRAEL
Despite all of that, it was revealed days before last weekend’s attack that the Islamic regime of Iran has a supply of highly enriched uranium, which, according to current and former officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency, "could be converted to weapons-grade fuel for at least three bombs within a time frame ranging from a few days to a few weeks."

Israel is reportedly preparing to strike back at Iran for its massive attack on Israel. FILE: An Israeli Air Force F-15I fighter jet takes off during an air force pilots' graduation ceremony at Hatzerim air base in southern Israel. (Reuters)
"This cannot just pass. It cannot go unanswered," Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog said in an interview with Bret Baier on Fox News. "Because if you don’t answer, the Iranians will feel impunity, and they will feel that you can strike anywhere in the Middle East or elsewhere, without any consequences." He followed "We have to respond, and we will respond. How exactly we do it remains to be seen. I don’t want to discuss any details."
Herzog clearly stated that, "In our part of the world, defense is not enough to create deterrence. We need to push back." He added "If we do not push back against Iran, in a matter of few years, you may see nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles." Israel has valid concerns and may feel compelled to preemptively disable IRGC's missile and nuclear capabilities permanently, echoing their 1981 intervention at Iraq's Osirak Nuclear reactor.

White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby addressed questions about Iran and the IRGC's motives regarding the recent missile attack. Kirby informed reporters, "The aim was to get as many [missiles and drones] through Israel's defenses as possible." He refuted theories suggesting that the Iranians intended the operation to fail, labeling such claims as "categorically false" and asserting, "Given the scale of this attack, Iran's intent was clearly to cause significant destruction and casualties."
Reflect on the potential threat if Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, known for his enmity with the United States and Israel, had access to nuclear ballistic missiles. He likely would not hesitate to use such weapons, aligning with their longstanding so-called Islamic revolutionary slogan of "Israel must be wiped off the map."

www.foxnews.com

Iran left Israel with no choice on what it will do next

After Iran's massive air assault on Israel, it appears likely that Israel will be forced to strike back. Iran has been attacking other nations since the mullahs came to power in 1979.
www.foxnews.com www.foxnews.com
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Bold leadership can require bold decisions, decisive actions under exigent circumstance.
But it is a blunder of ignorance to conflate degree of lethality with degree of superiority.

If Netanyahu's intention is tit for tat reprisal against Iran, counter-attack is the obvious choice.
But if Netanyahu's delusion, despite history of Israel's peace with Egypt & Jordan is achieving peace through war, a bloodbath awaits.
 

"USC valedictorian speaks out after school canceled her commencement speech" #15​


Nothing from Tabassum, only from Guzman at the linked article.

I don't deny the "hum-int" angle. My interest is in the censorship angle, whether deliberate or not.
 
It may cloud rather than clarify to recognize the double-standard here.
Israel is scrutinized. But is it not the aggressions of Hamas, and then Hamas' strategy of embedding their combat capabilities within civilian infrastructure such as schools & hospitals that have resulted in Israel's counter-attack?
 
It's an inside job ....

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They keep claiming, with zero evidence, Hamas is diverting all the aid as their excuse for blocking but never explain where Hamas is hiding it all. Nor do they seem to care that they are starving the Israeli hostages by blocking aid to everyone.

www.theguardian.com

Israeli soldiers and police tipping off groups that attack Gaza aid trucks

Exclusive: Members of security forces giving settlers who intercept vital supplies information on location of convoys, group says
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
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